Food, Justice, and the Baha'i Faith

Through an examination of the phenomenon of food choice and the relationship between food and justice, this thesis demonstrates the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach in providing a more nuanced understanding of food. Rejecting a dichotomized view of food as either material or sumbol, either culture or nature, either nutritional or social, it develops a concept of liminality that affords new insights into food choice and argues for a liminal positioning of food between the empirical and the ethical. Focusing on the Baha'i Faith, it reviews principles and teachings of this new world religion whose vision of world unity places justice at the center of its ethical worldview. The thesis tests the claim that food provides a practical way through which Baha'is can articulate and achieve their ethical goals, helping them to cross the divide between what is and what could be. Using a dual methodological apprach that combines hermeneutic strategies to examine sacred texts, together with qualitative interviews of believers, it examines food issues related to health and healing, hospitality, social development, and spiritual duty. While food does not at first appear to be a prominent issue in the Baha'i tradition, findings indicate that there is a singular food discourse that evokes spiritual and social themes of simplicity, moderation, commensality, and compassion, which supports the claim that food is integral to and formative of the Baha'i concept of justice.